Alex Mack, Mitchell Schwartz reportedly drawing interest from NFC teams

Cleveland Browns free agents Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz are reportedly drawing interest from a number of NFC teams.

With the “legal tampering” portion of free agency now fully underway, teams are reportedly starting to sniff around Cleveland Browns center Alex Mack and right tackle Mitchell Schwartz.

According to cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons are all interested in Schwartz, while Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole says the Falcons are showing “big interest” in Mack.

The reported overtures from the Falcons to Schwartz and Mack are interesting as it would represent a return to working with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who spend the 2014 season with Cleveland before bailing out.

Related: 5 options to replace Alex Mack

As far as Mack wanting to make a return to a Shanahan-led offense, at least one former Browns lineman believes that is, well, not very likely:

The league allows teams to speak with agents – but not players – from now until 4 p.m. on Wednesday as part of the run up to the official start of free agency on Wednesday. According to NFL.com:

"During the two-day period, all teams have the right to negotiate “all aspects of an NFL player contract” with the certified agent of an impending free agent. Figures can be exchanged on a deal, but nothing can be agreed to or announced before the start of free agency on Wednesday."

"There are restrictions to this process. A free agent is not permitted to visit with a team other than their current team. Furthermore, a player cannot be in contact with a team that is not their own. Only the agent can communicate on the player’s behalf during this period. If a player acts as his own agent, he’s out of luck — the NFL does not allow communication with another team before Wednesday."

Related: 10 options to replace Mitchell Schwartz

How much of this is true remains to be seen, of course, as much of the news coming out over the next few days is generally agents working to create a buzz for their clients to drive up their asking price.

Of the teams reportedly showing interest in Schwartz and Mack, the Giants ($56 million) and Buccaneers ($53 million) have a bit more cap space than the Browns ($48 million), so they could outbid the Browns if they wanted to. However, that is not the case with the Falcons ($27 million) and Vikings ($26 million), so if they want Schwartz the Browns can pay more, if they are so inclined.

The Browns are not sitting idly by while everyone else has all the fun, as they have reportedly expressed interest in Cincinnati Bengals’ wide receiver Marvin Jones, according to cleveland.com.

And for reasons that are not entirely clear, the Browns are reportedly interested in 32-year-old cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones.

Cleveland also resigned linebacker Tank Carder, who was scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent; and signed defensive lineman Jamie Meder and running back Raheem Mostert, who were both exclusive rights free agents.

The club also extended qualifying offers to restricted free agents Don Jones, Austin Pasztor, Terrelle Pryor and Scott Solomon. If Jones (seventh), Pryor (third) or Solomon (seventh) signs an offer sheet with another club, the Browns not only have right of first refusal, but would receive draft choice compensation equal to the player’s original draft round if they sign with another team.

Since Pasztor was an undrafted free agent, the Browns would have right of first refusal if he were to sign an offer sheet with another team, but would not receive a draft pick as compensation if he leaves.

So they have that going for them, which is nice.

Next: 5 options to replace Tashaun Gipson

The Cleveland Browns will open free agency on March 9 with a little more than $48 million in salary cap space to spend. Follow Dawg Pound Daily for all the latest news on free agency as the Browns work to rebuild their roster.